April 10 2013

LAT report

     Today was a full day!  We headed off this AM by cab to the radio tower building which looks like the Seattle Space Needle.  It is the tallest building in Europe.  The observation tower has  pictures all around the outside in front of the window showing what you are looking at...it was a bit foggy but still spectacular.  The restaurant was above that..we did not go up but it rotates every hour 360° .. After we took a bunch of pictures we went down to the main floor and Dick got us two rickshaws that are bike driven to go about four blocks to the most grand church I have been in... They call it the "Dome" church and it was built in the 1400's but renovated many times...we have some great pictures but nothing to do it justice. The basement was a crypt with free standing coffins that were elaborately decorated ...there were kings from the 1400's and babies just erie and fascinating.. But the main church made your jaw drop!  It was amazing ..  windows so, beautiful, the altar of marbles and gold...the organ was bigger then a two story house...there were candelabras that were 6' tall...while there ..a service was about to begin and there were two trombone players that accompanied the organ from way up high in the church balcony.  The acoustics were just crazy!!  We left the church after about an hour and headed for the hop on hop off us.  We rode the bus until we hit checkpoint Charlie's and we got out and had lunch and took pictures Linda and I bought a Russian hat.. Preparing for our next trip!  We then walked back to the hotel and got a couple of boxes to ship and headed for the post office.  On the way back we stopped at a little deli as they had free WIFI so I could download some pictures and load our last post.  We ran into Dick and Candy and had a few beers and decided then to walk to a grocery store which was about 6 blocks down the street...I was having a craving for Cheetos ... I guess Germany isn't into Cheetos...but we got some snacks and came back to the room and packed and are ready for our next leg which is Dresden.  Should be fun and interesting... We all agreed we could have pent more time in Berlin...but I guess you could say that about every city.

LMR report

Second full day in Berlin - started off at the TV tower which is the tallest building in Europe.  It opened at 0900, we were amongst the first in line.  It was a bit foggy but it did give us a 360° view.  Took a ride in a vehicle that looked like a tuk-tuk to the Dome cathedral.  Truly incredible!  We were fortunate enough to hear horns and a bit of the magnificent organ.  I don't know how the Vatican could be any more gorgeous.  Got on our hop-on hop-off and rode the route until we reached Checkpoint Charlie's.   There were a couple of soldiers there that we had our pictures taken with, then we found out they charge €3 a person.  Returned to the hotel and packed boxes we wanted to, send home.  The post office is directly across the street from the motel so that was very convenient.  Linda and I started getting ready for our Russian trip we bought hats from a vendor on the street who was from Russia.  After mailing packages we stopped for wine and beer, went to the grocery store for munchies and returned to hotel.     Check out in AM and on to train to Dresden.  More then-